The Law Commission review argues that a new criminal offence may be necessary to prevent the practice. And it also believes that courts should be armed with additional powers compelling media organisations to remove from their electronic archives old stories that contain potentially prejudicial material.

The commission says: "The new media – Twitter, internet blogs, and so on – pose a challenge to the current law on contempt of court, which dates from a time before the internet was so widely used."

But the practicality and advisability of media outlets being required to take down material is disputed, as are proposed restrictions on jurors.

Binham quotes lawyer Susan Barty as saying: "The problem with some of the changes proposed to the existing law is that there is a real risk of making the position too complicated and difficult to enforce.

"For instance, making it an offence for jurors to seek information relevant to their case would be impractical to enforce, as jurors may unintentionally stumble across prejudicial online material without actively seeking it – and dealing with these sorts of grey areas could cause real problems."

The findings of the commission's consultation, which closes in February next year, will be recommended to government.